The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) articles from August 1994

The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) archives from August 1994

Troubled past haunts high ambitions. (Allen Jaffe, founder of Motor Vehicle Remanufacturing Group Inc.)
August 26, 1994... Tampa resident has big plans, but he faces big hurdles Entrepreneur Allen Jaffe, a would-be industrialist, has a dream: He wants to create a new segment of the auto industry in Lakeland, remanufacturing used cars and selling them to...

The news about derivatives isn't all bad.
August 26, 1994... The Bay Area has emerged as one of the hottest markets in the nation for derivatives, with companies making -- and losing -- millions of dollars by using them mostly to hedge and only occasionally to speculate. Derivatives and their usage by...

Furniture retailer makes big moves. (Roberds Inc.)
August 26, 1994... Roberds Inc. has purchased the former Ames store in south Tampa as part of a Bay Area-wide expansion that will eventually create 150 new jobs. The acquisition of the Gandy Boulevard location marked the Dayton, Ohio-based furniture retailer's...

HMOs scour welfare lines to sign up new members. (health maintenance organizations)
August 26, 1994... Medicaid HMOs are employing some less-than-conventional marketing techniques to boost their enrollment ranks, including deploying their salespeople to food stamp lines and on door-to-door calls in low-income neighborhoods. And while many of...

Winning bidder fails to show. (buyer of the Freedom Savings and Loan Association building in Tampa, Florida)
August 26, 1994... It was priced to sell, but even at one-third its assessed value the Freedom Savings building in downtown Tampa could not find a buyer at auction last week. A bid was accepted on the building, but the buyer failed to show up with the money...

Poe & Brown moves to Daytona Beach.
August 26, 1994... Word of the change spreads slowly through the organization Poe & Brown, the nation's 12th largest insurance brokerage, has moved its headquarters from Tampa to Daytona Beach. Although some of the company's employees have apparently not...

Ybor City to get vegan 200-seat restaurant/club. (vegetarian restaurant The Rubb)
August 26, 1994... The investors include a member of the Gatorade drink family What do you get when you cross live polka music, Latin bands, egg-free sweet-and-sour sauce, vegetarian cuisine, recycled cocktail napkins, a recording studio and a 90-year-old...

Agency lands prestigious Aquarium account. (Earle Palmer Brown named as Florida Aquarium's advertising agency)
August 26, 1994... The Florida Aquarium on downtown Tampa's waterfront is a complex project based on a simple, $100-million gamble: Will enough people -- 1.85 million per year, according to the Aquarium's projection -- buy enough tickets ($13.95 for adults,...

Golden parachutes are packed for Barnett execs. (Barnett Banks Inc.)
August 26, 1994... CEO Charles Rice would get $5.1 million in case of the bank's sale Golden parachutes are packed and ready to be pulled at Barnett Banks Inc. Charles Rice, Barnett's chairman and chief executive officer, would receive $5.1 million as his...

A neighborhood takes shape amid rising towers. (condominium development project in Sand Key, Pinellas County, Florida) (Real Estate Monthly)
August 26, 1994... A rare waterfront tract in Pinellas is developing much differently from the condominiums that surround it Study aerial photographs of Pinellas County beaches and something is immediately evident -- almost no vacant land is left. Condos,...

Flex space's specialized appeal is in the details. (conversion of warehouse buildings into office buildings) (Real Estate Monthly )
August 26, 1994... Landlords and tenants alike can derive benefits from conversions Savin Corp. has its Tampa headquarters in a rather unique building -- unique because the structure was never really intended for offices and instead was meant to serve mainly as...

Newly merged companies court specialty market. (Welch Tennis Courts) (Real Estate Monthly)
August 26, 1994... When St. Petersburg's Welch Tennis Courts built a private asphalt court for Ruskin horticulturist George Todd in 1986, the company's principals had no idea that one day Todd would acquire the business. Todd certainly wasn't considering it....

Davis Cup court construction solidified Welch's reputation. (Thunderdome clay courts; Welch Tennis Courts) (Real Estate Monthly)
August 26, 1994... Hurried work and last minute changes didn't hurt the quality of the clay If any one project has helped Welch Tennis Courts make a name for itself, it was the construction of the red-clay tennis courts at the Thunderdome for the 1990 Davis...

Group Technologies Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
August 26, 1994... (GRTK, Nasdaq) 10901 Malcolm McKinley Drive, Tampa 33612 (813) 972-6000 Group Technologies provides advanced manufacturing, engineering and testing services to original equipment manufacturers of electronic products. The company also...

Retailer's arrival revives a deteriorated property. (Roberds Inc.'s purchase of a former Ames store in Tampa, Florida)
August 26, 1994... Roberds' decision to move into the former-Ames-store-turned eyesore should help revive a stretch of Gandy Boulevard known as "furniture row." Despite the deterioration of its appearance in recent years -- the street is dotted with empty...

Health insurers flood into Bay Area: the new players include national powerhouses.
August 19, 1994... With their sights set on one of the most lucrative health care markets in the nation, more than a half-dozen HMOs and other insurers have either moved into the Bay Area or expanded their operations here in recent weeks. The companies range...

Commercial real estate loans again draw bankers' interest.
August 19, 1994... Commercial real estate lending, a rarity in the early 1990s, has made a major comeback in the Bay Area, with many bankers today reporting twice or triple the loan business they did a year ago. A large percentage of the loans represents...

Chain may loosen links to Florida. (Vicorp. Restaurants Inc.)
August 19, 1994... Vicorp Restaurants Inc., the parent company of 32 Village Inns from the Bay Area to Jacksonville, is reviewing its under-performing Florida stores and could soon close, sell or convert several of the restaurants. Although many of the...

Prediction: Tampa office market to tighten. (Tampa Bay Area)
August 19, 1994... COMPANY SPACE (sq. ft.) Beneficial Corp. 30,000 Lykes Bros. Steamship 70,000 New York Life 23,000 T. Rowe Price 44,000 (*)ITT Hartford ...

Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Checkers. (Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc.)
August 19, 1994... A bid by Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. to dismiss four lawsuits filed by disgruntled shareholders has been denied by a federal judge in Tampa. The shareholders, seeking unspecified damages, claim Checkers misrepresented itself in...

At Eckerd, chronic illnesses are videotape stars. (Hume Medical Information Services Inc. sells videos of chronic illnesses at Eckerd Stores)
August 19, 1994... A Connecticut firm has chosen Florida as one of two markets to begin selling yet another use for VCRs -- videos starring diseases, doctors and patients. Hume Medical Information Services Inc. of Wilton, Conn., is selling videos centered...

Record retrieval firm searches, finds profits. (Foresight Information Systems & Technology) (Small Business Enterprise)
August 19, 1994... In just two years, the company has grown nearly 940% TAMPA You might say the founders of Foresight Information Systems & Technology picked the right name for their company. In just two years, Foresight has seen its revenue grow 940%,...

When it's David vs. Goliath, entrepreneurs win with novelty. (Small Business Enterprise)
August 19, 1994... Ask George Hall what it's been like trying to introduce his Swedish Sports Rub to the American market and he'll bluntly tell you: "It's been like trying to climb Mt. Everest -- backwards." Hall, who began using the pain-relieving cream when...

In pursuit of suite dreams. (Tampa, Florida's hockey arena) (Sports Biz Focus)
August 19, 1994... Plenty of questions remain surrounding the fate of a hockey arena in downtown Tampa, not the least of which centers on the sale of luxury suites. Despite the lack of a firm financing plan for the $110-million facility, Tampa Bay Lightning...

Casino-minded parimutuels edge to the starting gate. (Sports Biz Focus)
August 19, 1994... Several Bay Area dog tracks already have drawn up their plans Now that the proposition for Limited Casinos has gathered enough signed petitions to get on the November ballot, Bay Area parimutuels are preparing for the chance that they may be...

Season-tickets sales: a never-ending struggle. (Sports Biz Focus)
August 19, 1994... The Bay Area's lack of deep-pocketed corporations is seen as part of the problem Phil Esposito, never known for pulling his punches, couldn't contain his frustration any longer. On a balmy June evening last year, during a reception for the...

You can't call them cheapskates any longer. (includes list of highest-paid Tampa Bay Buccaneers) (Sports Biz Focus)
August 19, 1994... Bucs loosen purse strings with arrival of NFL's salary cap The Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- the NFL franchise with one of the lowest payrolls during the past decade -- can no longer be called cheap. Rookie quarterback Trent Dilfer was signed to...

TransCor Waste Services Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
August 19, 1994... 1502 Second Ave. E., Tampa 33605 (813) 248-5885 TransCor Waste Services is a full-service solid waste management company serving commercial, industrial, municipal and residential customers. Its services are conducted through its operating...

Airport expansion behind schedule, over budget. (Tampa International Airport)
August 12, 1994... New terminal might not be ready for busy Thanksgiving season Construction on Tampa International Airport's new terminal is behind schedule and $2.5 million over budget, leaving the project's prime contractor, Centex-Great Southwest Corp.,...

Business travel soaring thanks to falling fares. (Tampa Bay Area) (Industry Overview)
August 12, 1994... Bay Area business travelers, grounded in the early '90s by the recession, are being lured back to the skies by deep fare discounts triggered by increased competition. The trend has boosted the number of passengers flying in and out of Tampa...

Area law firms court 'laterals' while recent grads go wanting. (Tampa Bay Area)
August 12, 1994... Hiring at Bay Area law firms has been picking up, but the jobs nowadays aren't generally going to graduates fresh out of law school. Instead, those graduates are often being scorned in favor of so-called laterals, lawyers with at least two...

Rules change in real estate investing game. (Industry Overview)
August 12, 1994... Bargains are rare and lenders have become more wary The real estate investment business is once again attracting millions of dollars to the Bay Area, although today's deals are being structured like never before. Gone are the days of banks...

TGH offered cheaper option for fire-damaged wing. (Tampa General Hospital)
August 12, 1994... Smoke detection system could substitute for costly renovations Tampa General Hospital may be able to reopen a nine-story wing partially closed in the wake of a fire last month much sooner and at a fraction of the cost it had projected....

Eckerd tops expanded list of top public companies. (Eckerd Corp.)
August 12, 1994... Eckerd Corp., which went public last year, vaulted to the top of this year's publicly traded companies list. Nine other Bay Area companies appeared in the top 25 for the first time, while four vanished altogether, due to mergers, bankruptcies...

Subacute care: providing a cost-saving alternative. (Health Care Monthly)
August 12, 1994... Defining it is still murky business, but the profits are clear-cut Subacute care is a hot new health industry subspecialty suffering from an identity crisis -- it's so new, nobody can say exactly what it is. And in an industry as resistant to...

Health care construction on the rise in Bay Area. (Tampa Bay Area) (Health Care Monthly) (Industry Overview)
August 12, 1994... New hospitals, out-patient and diagnostic centers are all being built Despite the unpredictable future of the nation's health care system, the Bay Area is experiencing an uptick in medical construction activity, with more than a few such...

Lincare Holdings: on a breath-taking acquisition trail. (Health Care Monthly)
August 12, 1994... It acquires 11 companies since January, seven in just the second quarter What's wrong with this picture? Grandma, resplendent in her favorite decorative pink sweater, is cutting a piece of freshly baked cherry pie for her chipmunk-checked...

Vindicator Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
August 12, 1994... (VIFL, Nasdaq) 1801 Thonotosassa Rd., Plant City 33566 (813) 752-3364 Vindicator Inc. operates a gamma irradiation facility designed to increase the shelf life of produce and meat products and to sterilize medical, surgical, pharmaceutical...

Plasma-Therm projects five-fold growth.
August 5, 1994... ST. PETERSBURG Plasma-Therm Inc., a high-tech manufacturer, has embarked on a five-year expansion plan designed to eventually generate $100 million in annual sales. If that sounds ambitious, it is. Plasma-Therm has endured years of losses...

Unable to digest their deal, chef takes chain to court. (Jon Agri, founder of Gianni's restaurants; Apple South Inc.; includes related article)
August 5, 1994... TAMPA Less than two years after Apple South Inc. acquired his restaurants, Gianni's founder Jon Agri is suing the publicly traded company for compensation he claims he's owed and for freedom from a non-compete agreement. At the same time,...

Chamber forms task forces to expand its reach. (Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce)
August 5, 1994... TAMPA The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, in a move to revitalize its economic development efforts, is forming nearly a dozen task forces to help it lobby local, state and federal governments. "We want to be able to address issues...

Bank profitability: once again, it's all in the spread.
August 5, 1994... Banks all over the country are raking in fatter-than-ever profits and Bay Area institutions are no exception, with earnings rising practically across the board. The return to profitability is due to a variety of reasons, but generally can be...

Chamber's trade director, to no surprise, is fired. (Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce; Hiram Perez)
August 5, 1994... The new head of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce has fired the executive director of the group's trade program. Chamber President Don Barber dismissed Hiram Perez amid moves to reorganize the Tampa Bay International Trade Council to...

Health care consultant is hired by merging hospitals. (Hunter Management Group Inc.; St. Joseph's Hospital; St. Anthony's Health Care Center)
August 5, 1994... The Hunter Group, A St. Petersburg-based consultant, has been hired to help St. Joseph's Health Services of Tampa and St. Anthony's Health Care Center of St. Petersburg find savings as the hospital organizations consolidate services. The...

A creepy not-so-little monster reaps big rewards. (Effects International) (Company Profile)
August 5, 1994... It all derived from the ant. That's how Bob Gordon, co-owner of Effects International in Clearwater, explains his company's projected 100% increase in sales this year. New customers attracted by a giant ant that Effects produced for a...

Brothers maintain Clearwater Linen's conservative tradition. (William and John Tayler) (Company Profile)
August 5, 1994... With a history of 83 years in the linen and uniform business, it would seem Clearwater Linen has seen it all. But with health care and restaurants making up the majority of its business, the company is constantly forced to make adjustments....

Pursuing fiber-optics, redevelopment and rail. (Focus: Plant City)
August 5, 1994... Plant City's vision is a multimillion-dollar, multi-year undertaking Sleepy Plant City has heard its wake-up call. In just the past few months the city has adopted a strategic action plan to redevelop its downtown area and is concurrently...

Plant City has brought home some winners. (Focus: Plant City)
August 5, 1994... An environment of cooperation draws interest of large companies Plant City may be the strawberry capital of the world, but it also keeps busy picking cherries -- the corporate type, as reflected in the Business Journal's list of the city's...